It is not like the suddenly fairly hot Detroit Red Wings are going to the playoffs. They are not. But they are clearly not tanking, not yet anyway. The “lose for Hughes” has been quieted down a bit. The “Larkin does it again” has been ringing out. Dylan Larkin has absolutely taken the Wings on his shoulders and has sparked this team.
Andreas Athanasiou has turned the corner, and his quality of play has picked up significantly. This was something that needed to happen for Detroit going forward. Yet, I would caution this, rebuilding young teams will do this.